2009 fall photos

Sights

Winston Salem's answer to Charlotte's tower which now has competition from other buildings making it less obvious. Then a little ways up the road...
Hee.
I promise I won't post this again even tho I'll probably travel this route often. I'll still giggle tho.

Friday shuffle

1. Paulus: Mass for a Sacred Place, Gloria - Cathedral Choral Society
2. Berlioz: Requiem, Rex tremendae - Norrington
3. It Makes a Fellow Proud to be a Soldier - Tom Lehrer
4. Satie:Gnossiennes 3, Lent - Riri Shimada
5. Britten: Marsh Flowers - The Sixteen
6. And When I Die - Blood, Sweat and Tears
7. Brahms: Nänie - Shaw/Atlanta
8. A Yidishe Mame - Jowel Klezmorim
9. Turn, Turn, Turn - Judy Collins
10. Get Together - The Youngbloods
I'm finding it more and more difficult to find what I want on YouTube. Their search engine needs radical surgery or a total replacement. The results often make no sense at all. I have no trouble with "popular" music but major difficulties with classical.

Wow! 10,000 plus

In late July 2008 I accidentally deleted my blog Mom Said Nobody Cares. Tonight at 8:30 while I was at rehearsal, this new blog received the 10,000th visitor. It was a PC on Time Warner in Erie. I suspect who it might have been. Thank you, all, anyhow. I'm very flattered that you find this drivel interesting enough to visit. The saga of Little One will probably continue as long as he keeps giving me a reason to take another photo.

Meanwhile, I'll be away for a few days and may or may not get to blog. Take care of yourselves. Play fair. And give your four legged friends lots of treats. Feed the birds too, please.

A day with Sarah and Mom

Yes, it is the Kaufmann's clock in Pittsburgh, now Macy's. Today I drove a friend Sarah to Pittsburgh to visit her attorney. While they had lunch, I wandered down memory lane by doing some shopping (bought nothing) in Kaufmann's then having lunch in Tic Toc. I suspect the waitress was there when I was a kid but I was too kind to ask. She was a sweetheart.

I was born and spent my early years in New Castle. Mom and I would take the train to Pittsburgh, go shopping and sometimes meet friends for lunch. We usually ate in the dining room upstairs in Kaufmann's but it is no more.

After her meeting Sarah and I visited a gallery in Shadyside where she had some business, did more shopping, visited the Apple Store and had "tea" at Coffee Tree Roasters before coming home. We had a wonderful day and hope we get to do it again sooner rather than later.

And Mom was with me in spirit, I hope.

Yet another Little One photo

Tommie has finally relented and allowed Little One to be friendly. Some of you who have been following my blog for awhile may have seen similar photos but with PuddyTat using Tommie as a pillow. I need to wash the window again.

More rainy day cats

When Jellico came around, Little One snuggled with him.

Eventually PuddyTat appeared and watched what I was doing.

I gave her some raw ground beef which she loves. Little One thought he would like a bite. PT hissed and bared her teeth and let him know in no uncertain terms that she doesn't share. She has been like that since she was a kitten and tried to nose Mama away from the food. He waited patiently but only got a couple of bits. I tried to give him some when PT left but she heard the window and returned.

How to spend a misty Saturday

Friday cat blogging

Must have been a hard night for Jellico and Little One.

Friday shuffle

1. Schubert: Mass in G, Sanctus - Shaw, Atlanta
2. Can't Get to a Church - Capitol Steps
3. A Yidishe Mame - Jowel Klezmorim
4. Dedicated to the One I Love - Mamas and Papas
5. With a Little Help From My Friends - Joe Cocker
6. Sunny - Earnestine Anderson
7. Soft Soundin' Music - Harpers Bizarre
8. Pushin' Too Hard - The Seeds
9. Fresh Air - Quicksilver Messenger Service
10. Lover-O-Lover Polka
A bonus came up when I went to turn the iPhone off -
11. You Belong to Me - Jo Stafford
This song makes me laugh. We considered "the pyramids along the Nile" to be a reference to our anatomy which at the time bore little resemblance to pyramids except for a few very lucky gals.

+Gene finds strength in spirituality

RIP Tipper

Tipper passed away tonight. Please say a prayer for Elaine who has lost the buddy who has accompanied her thru many of the storms in her life. He must have felt that she can now go on without him and left her in the care of his friend Coritzaki.

Protect insurance companies

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

Mine, all mine

Little One immediately took possession of this pile of line. Cats are such funny people.

Friday shuffle

1. I Only Have Eyes for You - The Flamingos
2. My Father - Judy Collins
3. Something in the Air - Thunderclap Newman
4. I Started a Joke - Bee Gees
5. In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning - Carol Sloane
6. Elgar: It's Oh! to be a Wild Wind - Finzi Singers
7. Black Mountain Rag - Doc & Merle Watson
8. Dobbin's Flowery Veil - rajaton
9. arr. Snyder: Mi Yitnenti Of - Bach Choir of Pitttsburgh
10. Time of the Season - The Zombies

Friday cat blogging

Good morning, Mom!

When do I get to eat?

That was good.

Tommie

Tim

PuddyTat

Jellico

Little One

Dude

Don't remember who provided this. Sorry I can't give you credit.

Dumb

As I said below, that photo was expensive. I carried the camera and the iPhone from the house to the car. Seeing PuddyTat's ears poking above the grass, I put the iPhone on the roof of the car and took the photo. Unfortunately I left the phone on the roof. A ways down the road I heard two odd bumps. A quarter mile later I figured out what had happened. I couldn't find the phone so borrowed one of those gadgets that finds metal things from a friend at Curves. This is what I found. sigh. But now I have an iPhone that takes movies. And my bank account is considerably lighter. Oh well. I provided the highlight of the day for the folks at Meadville's AT&T store.

Mighty hunter

This was an extremely expensive photograph. More about that later. Meanwhile check out the little orange ears of the mighty hunter. And, yes, I need to mow. And fill the feeders.

Hat tip to Padre Mickey.

We're 37th

Church picnic time

Picnic, you say? But that's not a picnic. It's inside. Yes, but there are no bees inside and there were lots of bees where we planned to eat. The photo will embiggen a little if you are curious and click on it.

St John's Episcopal Church, Sharon, PA

I attended the installation of a priest today. It was a lovely service. BUT my mind wandered back to the good old days when a bunch of white males stood with their backs to the people and mumbled stuff we weren't supposed to hear or take part in because we couldn't possibly understand or we weren't educated enough or, well, we were laity and they were better than us. And I missed the Sanctus bells. Otherwise it was lovely. And the alb on the left contained a woman, the Canon to the Ordinary. I enjoy attending all the installations and ordinations. I get to see the churches in the diocese that I can't visit on Sundays because of responsibilities at Christ Church. I'm also meeting some interesting people. That's always fun.

The carillon is to die for tho. And he is good at ringing.

Waiting for the parade

Small towns are funny. This has been Jamestown Fair week. Since the high school is used for the fair, school has been cancelled. Today was the parade. I used to go to the parades. They were funny. Milk trucks and kids on horses. Kids in costumes. Very rural. The last time I saw the parade it was not the same. No milk wagons of course - the local dairy is no more. No horses. The floats are still pulled by tractors tho.

The parade is always at 1 pm. At 10 am this morning the parade route was already lined with blankets and plastic chairs. I came back thru town at 11 and the crowd was already gathering. The parade was at 1, remember? There were a number of people already in their seats with their lunch waiting in the cooler.

When the main street is blocked, there is no other way to go thru town. I live about 2 1/2 miles northeast of town. I went shopping in Meadville which is farther east. By the time I got home, the parade was history. I usually don't go to the fair either. I know perhaps a half dozen people in town. I do use the local drugstore and bank tho.

SynchroniciTi

An interesting 9/11 commemoration with narrator - sorry I didn't get his photo. Poetry between musical numbers. The Pittsburgh group is SynchroniciTi.

Wistful

Dudie would love to be a housecat and spends many minutes looking in. Little One is sick today. Must find a way to catch him.

Friday cat blogging 2

You've heard the song "Twilight Time"? Well, this is "toilette time". Jellico in the foreground with Little One then Dudie farther out. The grey tabby boys. It will embiggen.

Friday cat blogging

Only one photo so far and it is from a phenomenon last night. Tommie and Jellico lapping up milk together from the same dish. No songs. No hisses. Interesting. Jellico has had some sort of eye problem and hasn't been eating, just sleeping. I hoped some milk would encourage him as nothing else has tempted him. He jumped off the roof when I opened the door and Tom jumped up before he did. I was shocked to see them together. Jellico seems a little better this morning.

Friday shuffle

1. Rock and Rye Polka
2. Gold Rush - Mark O'Connor
3. Stay - Maurice
4. Handel: Coronation Anthem 2 - King's College
5. nearer, my god, to thee - rajaton
6. When You Are Old and Gray - Tom Lehrer
7. Chopin: Nocturne in B, Op 62/1 - Artur Rubenstein
8. Dawson: Soon-ah Will Be Done - Bach Choir of Pittsburgh
9. Fire - Crazy World of Arthur Brown
10. Take Good Care of My Baby -Bobby Vee

A little late but still relevant. Wish it didn't remind me of Episcopal schismatics as well. Hmmm. Some of the same people?

Kitten

One minute Little One and Jellico are sound asleep following Bishop Maya Pavlova's advice to nap frequently.

Before long however, Little One has other ideas.

I was able to scritch Little One's head this morning. What a fleabag! I'm beginning to think Little One is a he but it is very difficult to get a good view. Need to get the trap out and get him to the vet.

Oh, yes!

Hat tip to Dennis on Facebook.

Frustrating

This has been a dry year here. Watching the weathermap has been a source of frustration. The rain goes around us. North of us. South of us. East of us. The rain peters out before coming in from the west. For those on holiday this is good news. For those of us with wells, not so good news. My well is not happy as we have been close to drought conditions for many years. We were worse off a couple of years ago but will slide back there if we don't get rain this fall.

This is the pond between my property and the "tracks". There is little water in it. The logs and branches in the foreground should be in water rather than on dry grassy ground. The pond fills from the farm and other land above us. We are at the bottom of a long hill that runs parallel to the lake.
The lake is actually a little higher than usual. The old cement dock is normally almost completely out of the water in September. Part of the top is still submerged. The lake level reveals the large amount of rain that has fallen to the north of us - often as close as 5 miles.

Letter to Obama

Dear President Obama,

We elected you to make changes in health care in the US.

It is time to take advantage of the Democrats’ control of Congress and make real changes, not just superficial window dressing that satisfies only those who may see decreased income with a better bill.

We really need a single payer health care system but that is probably impossible. The next best option is serious competition for the current insurance/pharma monopoly via a public option. We need coverage for everyone. We need coverage for preexisting conditions. We need relief from catastrophic illness expense. We need coverage for prevention. We need the prices other countries pay for US medications.

Please just do it. Give us a bill we can recognize as real reform. Challenge the naysayers to ask their constituents if they want health care reform or what they are used to. The Republicans will never compromise. Please don’t back down and yield to the noise. You can’t possibly succeed if you don’t try.

Thank you for doing what you promised.

Sincerely,

Pymatuning

The leaves are starting to turn. Where did August go? We have had a most unusual Labor Day weekend for a change. Almost always there is one nice day, one chilly grey day and one miserable day in random order. We have had two gorgeous days so far.

It seems like everyone is out in the boat one last time. I can't see the lake proper because there is a long island between us and the lake. I took a short walk up the "tracks" to get the photos. I should have made the photos embiggenable so you could see the boats. Oh well.

Christ Church sings

Helps when the choir is in the congregation.

Little One is curious about the house

Not just education...

Knowledge is dangerous. It can cause people to think. Thinking can cause questions. Questions can be embarrassing. It is not good to expose our children to anything other than what we "know" to be "true".

Thanks to Susan who got it from Ann.

Bill Moyers on Obama and Health Care